A vote is to be taken at the Pima County Board of Supervisors Tuesday, March 18th to decide whether or not voters should approve a $22 million dollars for improvements to the Pima Animal Care Center (PACC) facility. If passed, Pima County voters would decide on this issue at the midterm election in November 2014.
Approximately 22,000 animals pass through this facility each year. PACC’s live release rate has gone from 50% to 80% over the past 2-years due to increased community outreach and awareness. Several months ago the board approved spending $400,000 for a tent that was erected as a short-term solution to overcrowding at the facility.
If the ballot measure is passed in November then Pima Animal Care would move towards minimal kill objectives instead of a policy of euthanasia, which was the norm when the facility was first build in the 60’s. The existing PACC facility is not adequate to support minimal kill objectives currently.
Per a memo from County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry, the additional cost based on an average home value of $250,000 would be approximately $6.60 per year. In an August 2013 Community input survey 50% of the total respondents as well as 50% of District 1 residents participating ranked PACC in the top 5 priorities in the Public Health category.
Fiscal watchdog, Supervisor Ally Miller said, “I am not without reservations on increasing the debt in Pima County, especially given the recent opinion issued by the Pima County Attorney regarding the shifting of FY 2013/14 road repair monies from District 1 roads to another district with a simple majority vote. $22 million dollars is a significant amount of money and the amount concerns me greatly in terms of necessity for a building to house dogs.”
“My support for this agenda item is not meant as an endorsement but simply to advocate for the broadest citizen voter base to participate in the decision of how Pima Animal Care facility should move forward,” according to Miller.
Of the $22 million there is $17.2 million budgeted for a new 23,700-square-feet new building, and minor costs for new kennels and some building renovations (totaling less than $3.4 million). When the costs of the renovations and kennels are backed out of the project it appears the new building will cost the Pima County taxpayer a mere $725. per square-foot and that’s before the overruns as were seen in the Pima County Court House project still under construction.
As we now know, and as Supervisor Miller points out, monies can be shifted for any reason by a simple majority vote on the Board.
To see the full Pima County Cost Model for this project Animal Care Center Reso_Bond Election_Memo